COULD do...

This afternoon, a good friend and her three kids dropped by for a visit and a cup of tea after school. The mummies were feeling a bit "weakened"... I'm just getting over this nasty cough, and now my friend is beginning to feel croaky and crummy... Hot tea (preferably laced with Glenfiddich) was DEFINITELY in order.

The three eldest children, ages 11, 10 and 7, disappeared downstairs to the game room, to play a rollicking game of air hockey. The younger three, aged 6, 4 and 3, tootled downstairs for a time, as well, to play with the massive train set that The Husband had spread out on the floor last weekend.

Sadly, our moment of Blessed Silence was quickly broken, when the tiny trio re-appeared in the kitchen, claiming "boredom". I set them up next to us at the table with pencils and paper, scissors, stickers, glue, stamps and a stamp-pad, hoping that they would play "cwafts" for awhile. But, typical of most tired, slightly-cranky children, the just would NOT settle down to their task.

My friend, who is an absolute gem, and a spectacular mother, grabbed a stray piece of string, tied it in a big loop, and began showing the little girls her considerable skill at "Cat's Cradle".

Her tricks were quite mesmerizing, actually. The girlies were riveted...

... right up until the time came for her to show the children how she could intricately wind the string around her fingers, and have a "volunteer" pull on the tail end... The string was SUPPOSED to "magically" unwind from her fingers, and leave the audience awe-struck.

She tried once, with no success.

She tried a second time, and STILL, the damned string would. not. budge.

The third time, she beckoned to my own Wee Three to be the "assistant".

My littlest girlie climbed down from her perch at the table, where she had been half-heartedly cutting-and-pasting pictures from the Sears Christmas Wish Book...

And when, a THIRD time, the string WOULD NOT CO-OPERATE, she looked my friend RIGHT in the eye, brandished her little blue safety scissors, and said:

"OR... I could just SNNNIP IT!!"